I recently photographed my first Vietnamese wedding and it was a great experience. One of the wonderful things about being a wedding photographer in Tampa Bay is that we have so many different cultures here. I’m sure there are places where wedding photographers spend every weekend photographing the same type of wedding but here we get all kinds and it makes the job so much more interesting.

Phuong and Quoc decided to schedule a separate bridal session with me a month before the wedding. The great thing about doing that was we we able to print two large canvas pieces for their home that they then displayed at the reception. I’ll be honest, it made me smile to see those two beautiful canvas’s showcased at the wedding. They even made the wedding video!

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They were married over the course of two days. The first day was traditional, with visits to the houses of both families, traditional gifts and a tea ceremony. The second day was a regular wedding reception at the Bayanihan Arts Center. I’ve worked at the Bayanihan Arts Center a bunch of times. It’s a great venue.

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It’s not every day that a wedding photographer gets to photograph a wedding party in two completely different outfits!

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Phuong was beautiful in her traditional wedding dress…

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Did I mention the food? Oh my…. the food was fantastic. I usually don’t get much time to eat at a wedding and this was no exception. I never saw so much food at a wedding before.

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They also had a live band and several guests got up to sing during the course of the night. Of course, it was all in Vietnamese so I couldn’t understand it but they sure seemed to be crushing it!

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Phuong and Quoc sent me a copy of their wedding video. It’s a great video and if you pay attention you’ll even see the World’s Greatest Wedding Photographer make an appearance or two. :)  You’ll also see a lot of my posing as video guys tend to shoot while we photographers are shooting (and vice-versa).

It was a wonderful experience and I’m looking forward to my next Vietnamese wedding!

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